EP0158429A1

EP0158429A1 - Package

Info

Publication number: EP0158429A1
Application number: EP85301394A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Peter Leonard Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-03-01
Filing date: 1985-02-28
Publication date: 1985-10-16
Also published as: JPS61139A

Abstract

A package formed from sheet material comprising two generally complementary portions (11).which are hingedly connection (13) along a common edge, part of at least one, and preferably both of which, being deformed away from its plane (12,13) to provide and article receiving volume, interconnecting means (20) being provided whereby, when the two portions are brought into contact, they can be physically held in this condition. There may be three portions, two of which (50) are complementary, and the other is which (51) forms a base, the base being a pair of inclined surfaces against which complementary surfaces on the portions (50) abut when the package is closed.

Description

This invention relates to packages and, in particular, to packages which are adapted for display and protective purposes.
There are many areas where it is desired to present articles in an attractive way and, at the same time, protect them from physical damage and enable them to be readily transported.
For example, and this example shall be used throughout this specification, but it is stressed that it is exemplary only, it can be desirable to display bottles of wine in such a way that the labels can be examined but where, nevertheless, the bottles are protected and whereby they can also be readily transported without further packaging.
It is also often desirable to package such things as bottles of wine so that individual bottles are held out of contact or positively in contact so as to prevent any possible damage by bottles moving and striking each other.
Normally bottles, when being held in bulk, are held in fibre board containers and these, of course, do not permit any examination of the labelling of the bottles or, indeed, their contents.
There have been proposed method of shrink packaging certain numbers of bottles and these methods do provide satisfactory packaging, do normally permit a view of the labels, although the shrink packaging material is often more or less opaque, and because it holds the bottles in close physical contact it does prevent damage from adjacent bottles striking. This form of packaging does have to be destroyed to gain access to the contents. Basically this form of packaging is practical but is not fully satisfactory aesthetically.
Normally, when only small numbers of bottles are to be displayed, they are displayed individually and, when there is a need for packaging, they are packaged in a paper bag or a plastic bag.
The principal object of the present invention is to provide packaging which can display the contents of the package and/or which protects the contents of the package and which, at the same time, presents the product aesthetically.
The invention, in its broadest sense, comprises a package formed of a sheet of material comprising two portions which are effectively mirror images over a substantial part of their area and which are interconnected along one edge in such a manner as to be hingedly moveable from a position where they are in contact to a position where they are spaced, at least one of the portions being deformed away from its plane to receive an article to be received, the portions having interconnecting means whereby, when they are brought into contact, they can be retained in this position.
Preferably, each portion is deformed away from its plane, in the same direction, an amount to correspond to half of the article to be received, whereby, when the article is in the package, the point of abutment of the two portions is effectively at a plane through the centre of the article.
The form of interconnection may be by means of a press stud arrangement or the like whereby one of the portions has a plurality of outwardly extending recesses and the other has a corresponding plurality of outwardly directed studs, the relative sizes of the recesses and the studs being such as to enable the studs to be received in the recesses after deformation so that the studs are restrained from moving out of the recesses.
Preferably, at least one of the portions, and preferably both of the portions, extend beyond the article to be packed and the extended portion is formed to have a cut-out whereby to form a handle so that the package can be carried.
In order that the invention may be more readily understood, I shall describe the invention in relation to a particular package and then provide an indication of various forms of articles which can be packaged and the necessary alterations in the package to accept such articles by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first form of package adapted to contain two bottles;
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the package of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the package of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a plan view of the package of Fig. 1;
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the package of Fig. 1 with the two parts of the package opened;
Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a form of package which is adapted to contain six cans;
Fig. 6A is a plan view of the package of Fig. 6;
Fig. 7 is a front view of a package adapted to carry four bottles;
Fig. 7A is a plan view of the package of Fig. 7;
Fig. 8 is a front elevation of a pack adapted to carry three bottles of wine;
Fig. 9 is a front elevation of a package adapted to carry bottles of liquid and a glass with which it can be drunk;
Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a second type of package; and
Fig. 11 is a broken perspective view of the lower portion of the package of Fig. 10.

Referring to the package of Figs. 1 to 5, the package 10 is preferably made of a transparent synthetic plastics material which can be vacuum or pressure formed and which, both before and after forming, is substantially rigid. A particularly suitable form of plastics material is polyvinyl acetate.
The package of Figs. 1 to 5 which I shall use for exemplification is one which is designed to be a display and transporting package for two wine bottles. It will be appreciated that the bottle receiving portions 11 can either be complementary to the particular bottle with which it is to be used and, thus, could be a shape which can receive either a white or a red wine bottle. Alternatively, and as illustrated, the shape is such as to be able to accommodate bottles of various shapes
The general arrangement of the package is that it is made of two effectively identical halves 12, 13, which are integrally connected along what is their lower edge 14 when the paekage is formed.
Each half has formed, outwardly from its plane, one half of the required shape 11 and the overall arrangement is such as to provide a handle 14 and attachment means 15, which will be described further hereinafter.
The deformations 11 are preferably equally spaced about the central longitudinal axis of the package and are arranged so that the base portions are equi-distant from the hinge line 14 of the package.
The base portions 16 of the package are located so that, when the package is closed, the base portions 16 are co-planar and form a flat surface upon which the package can stand.
Above the deformations for the receipt of the bottles, there is provided a shaped portion 17, the centre of which 18 is cut out in a trimming step, and which are shaped to receive a hand and which is formed around its periphery 19 to provide an inwardly directed part of the plastics material so that the portions can be comfortably received in the hand.
Provided in each portion 17 are a number of deformable portions 20, each of which can be considered to be one half of a press type connector and, each portion has these halves directed in the same direction from the plane of the packaging material In this particular form of package we prefer to provide five such pairs of deformable portions 20.
Preferably, the deformed portions which leave the plane in the same direction as the deformations 11 adapted to receive the bottles are slightly larger than those which leave the plane in the opposite direction.
If required, both deformed portions can be necked, that is have a smaller diameter adjacent the plane of the material and immediately outwardly therefrom, and this can be achieved by so forming the vacuum or pressure forming die and slightly distorting the portions to remove them from the die, the arrangement being such, therefore, that, when the portion which can be considered to be the male portion enters the female portion, there must first be deformation to permit the head of this to pass to the neck of the female portion and, when the two portions are in complete engagement, that is when the two faces of packaging material are substantially in contact, there is interengagement to restrict outward movement.
After the forming process is completed, the package is shaped, preferably by shaping knives operating in a jig, to form the outer surface and to remove the inner portion from the areas forming the handles 18.
In use, the wine bottles are placed in one portion of the package with their labels preferably directed either upwardly or downwardly, the other portion of the package is rotated about its hinge line 14 so that it is located over the outwardly extending portions of the bottles and the deformed portions 20 are simply engaged by inward pressure.
The engagement completes the formation of the package, and it can be seen that the two bottles are displayed so that the labels can be readily easily read, the bottles are protected by being out of contact with each other and the package can be simply picked up by placing a hand through the hole 18 forming the handle.
Thus the package satisfies the desiderata set out hereintobefore.
In order to assist in retaining the rigidity of the package, I may provide intermediate portions 30 in which the material of the package is deformed less than the closely adjacent material to give a rigid intermediate part.
Whilst Fig. 1 to 5 demonstrate the invention in relation to a particular embodiment, other embodiments are shown in the later figures.
These will be described only as required to explain the differences from the earlier embodiment.
The embodiment of Figs. 6 and 6A is an embodiment which is adapted to receive six cans of a beverage.
In this case, the outward deformation is such as to comprise two side members 36 which are effectively of a width equal to the radius of the beverage can and there are outward curved portions 37 which are also, in plan, effectively arcs of the same radius, the arrangement being such that three cans can be retained on each side of the package and, when the package is closed, the condition shown in Figs. 6 and 6A, the cans are securely retained.
In this case, the inner surfaces of the cans are in direct contact, in pairs, but, as they are constrained against substantial transverse movement, the package is quite satisfactory.
Similarly, the embodiment of Figs. 7 and 7A shows a package which is adapted to retain four beverage bottles and, again, in this case, the centre of the extension comprises an axis which is spaced from the original plane of the material by approximately the radius of the body of the bottle.
Thus, again, in this embodiment, when four bottles are being carried, they are in contact along a plane containing the hinge line 14 but, because of the overall restraint, this is not objectionable.
The embodiment of Fig. 8 simply shows the versatility of the package of the invention.
This specific embodiment shows a package adapted to carry three champagne bottles and it can be considered to be effectively functionally identical to the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 5.
Fig. 9 shows another embodiment which is similar to that of Fig. 8 but, in this case, there are deformed portions 40 which are adapted to receive a bottle and deformed portions 41 which are shaped to receive a glass.
Thus, a pack of this type is adapted to include two bottles of a beverage and a glass to receive the beverage.
This is exemplary, not only of its own particular arrangement but gives an indication of certain other uses of the package.
For example, specifically designed packages could be used for, say, picnic lunches for conventions or the like, where there could be provided deformed portions for a beverage and possibly one or two other deformed portions to contain, say, a first form of foodstuff, such as a salad or meat, and other deformed portions to contain a second form of foodstuff, for example, a piece of fruit.
Using such packages, a large number of individual meals can be assembled, each meal is protected from damage due to contact with other meals, but which can be readily distributed to the final users and which, at the same time, give an attractive appearance when so delivered.
The embodiment of Figs. 10 and 11 differs from the earlier embodiments, in that the package comprises two side members and a base member 51, each side member 50 being connected to the base member 51 along a hinge line 52.
The base member, in end elevation, is triangular and, across its width, is formed with two recesses 53, each of which is adapted to receive the base of a bottle or the like with which the package is to be used.
Each of the side members 50 has a sloping portion 55 which is of a shape complementary to the sloping sides 56 of the triangular base portion 51, so that, when the side is rotated about the hinge line 52, the surfaces 55 and 56 come into contact and, when both side members are so rotated, they are in contact with each other and protrusions 60, which are identical to those previously described can be engaged to hold the package together.
It may be preferred that the side members each have a web or the like 57 which acts as a reinforcement.
This form of package has certain advantages over the earlier forms, the main one of which is that the members 50 have only to rotate about the hinge lines 52 by approximately 90° and thus the stress on the material of the package is less than in respect of the earlier embodiments where this rotation has to be 180°.
Further, this form of package is imminently adaptable for an automatic packaging line as the base member 51 can be located on the line, the product can be placed in the recesses 53 and the two sides 50 can then be rotated about the hinge lines 51 until they come into contact and the protrusions 60 can be engaged.
Whilst we have fully described various packages, it will be appreciated that a similar package could be provided for wine bottles of the same size, a package could be provided for a single bottle, such as a bottle of champagne of any required size, and can also be specifically formed to receive, say, shaped bottles, such as Johnny Walker Scotch Whiskey bottles or Gordon's Gin bottles.
Also, whilst we have described the particular containers of the embodiment as having handles, it is to be appreciated that a handleless container would also be perfectly satisfactory for many applications.
Whilst giving the major benefits of the invention, that is easy visibility of the contents of the container and protection against physical damage, in some applications it may well be preferred, particularly where products are being packaged in outer containers where more efficient utilisation of the containers may be able to be achieved, that the packages, themselves, do not have handles. This is, of course, particularly so for relatively small packages which can be easily carried without handles.
Also, there may be some applications where a translucent or even opaque package may be preferred. This could be the case where the contents of the package can be damaged by light or there may be occasions where the physical properties of an opaque material may be more satisfactory than those of a clear material

Claims

1. A package formed of a sheet of material comprising two portions (11) which are effectively mirror images over a substantial part of their area and which are interconnected along one edge (13) in such a manner as to be hingedly moveable from a position where they are in contact to a position where they are spaced, at least one of the portions being deformed (12, 13) away from its plane to receive an article to be received, the portions having interconnecting means (20) whereby, when they are brought into contact, they can be retained in this position.

2. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein each portion is deformed (12, 13) away from its plane, in the same direction an amount to correspond to half of the article to be received, whereby, when the article is in the package, the point of abutment of the two portions is effectively at a plane through the centre of the article.

3. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein the part of the portion(s) deformed away from the plane are adapted to receive a plurality of articles.

4. A package as claimed in claim 3 wherein the articles lie side-by-side across the width of the package.

5. A package as claimed in claim 3 wherein an article is received in a deformed part of each portion so that, when the portions are brought into contact, the articles are in abutment.

6. A package as claimed in any preceding claim wherein there are three portions, two (50) of which are mirror images over a substantial part of their area and the third (51) of which is hingedly connected (52) between and to each of the said two, the third portion being formed to have two surfaces (56), one of which is adapted to be in abutment with a complementary surface (55) on each of the said two portions, when the said two portions are brought into contact.

7. A package as claimed in claim 6 wherein the said third portion (51) is triangular in elevation, the base of the triangle forming the base of the package and the two sides lying in the planes of the complementary surfaces (56).

₈. A package as claimed in claim 6 wherein the third portion is provided with recesses (53) therein which are complementary to the bases of the article(s) adapted to be received in the container whereby the articles can be received in the recesses (53) and the said two portions (50) rotated about the hinges (52) and into contact.

9. A package as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8 wherein a reinforcing web (57) is located between the complementary surface and the main part of each portion, on each side thereof.

10. A package as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the form of interconnection is by means of a press stud (20) arrangement or the like whereby one of the portions has at least one outwardly extending recess and the other has corresponding outwardly directed studs, the relative sizes of the recesses and the studs being such as to enable the studs to be received in the recesses after deformation so that the studs are restrained from moving out of the recesses.

11. A package as claimed in any preceding claim wherein at least one of the portions, and preferably both of the portions, extend beyong the artiele(s) to be packed and the extended portion is formed to have a cut-out whereby to form a handle (18) so that the package can be carried.

12. A package as claimed in claim 11 wherein the surrounds of the handle are returned to provide a comfortable grip.